Indian board says will hold mini IPL overseas

NEW DEHLI (AFP): India’s cricket board is planning a miniature overseas version of the Indian Premier League in September with all the eight teams set to participate, it announced Friday.

The decision to hold a shorter version of the cash-rich league overseas was taken in a IPL governing council meeting chaired by Rajeev Shukla and later ratified by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The BCCI has been on the lookout for an IPL-like tournament during the September window since scrapping the Champions League T20 last year.

“In the month of September BCCI is willing to host a mini IPL or IPL overseas with all the eight teams participating in a shorter format,” BCCI president Anurag Thakur said after the end of a four-day conclave in the northern hill town of Dharamsala.

He said the smaller tournament would last about two weeks.

Terming it “mini IPL” or “IPL overseas”, Thakur said the finer details of the tournament were being worked out before a final schedule was announced.

The BCCI has successfully hosted nine IPL editions so far, but struggled with the Champions League T20 which was pulled amid dwindling fan interest.

The IPL organisers are looking at different venues across the globe for the new tournament.

“Various overseas venues are being discussed but the US seems to be a popular choice in terms of tapping the T20 market,” a top IPL official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

IPL has twice been held overseas — owing to general elections in India — with the 2009 edition held in South Africa while the first half of the 2014 edition was played in the United Arab Emirates.